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British citizen and hacker Lauri Love, who was accused of hacking into United States government websites, will not be extradited to stand trial in the U.S., the High Court of England and Wales ruled today.

Love, 33, is facing a 99-year prison sentence in the United States for allegedly carrying out series of cyber attacks against the FBI, US Army, US Missile Defence Agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and New York's Federal Reserve Bank between 2012 and 2013.

The High Court ruled Monday that Love should be tried in U.K. after Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett of Maldon and Justice Ouseley heard he suffered severe mental illness like Asperger syndrome, eczema, asthma, and depression, and may kill himself if extradited.

At Westminster Magistrates' Court in London in late 2016, District Judge Nina Tempia ordered Love to be extradited to the U.S. to stand trial, although his lawyers appealed the decision, arguing that he should be tried for his alleged crimes in the UK.

The court accepted both of the arguments advanced by Love's lawyers and ruled that extradition would be "oppressive" due to his serious health conditions and it would be likely that he would be kept in solitary confinement in the American prison system if extradited.

The court burst in applause and cheering when the judgment was handed down by Lord Burnett, who asked Love supporters to be quiet, saying "This is a court, not a theatre."

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which acts on behalf of the US authorities, said it would read the judgment before deciding whether to appeal the high court decision to the supreme court.

According to US Prosecutors, Love was allegedly involved in #OpLastResort, an online protest linked with the Anonymous collective following the persecution and untimely death of hacktivist Aaron Swartz, who committed suicide in 2013 while under federal charges for data theft.

Love, who lives near Newmarket, was arrested from his home in Stradishall, England in October 2013, when the British police seized his encrypted laptops and hard drives.

If extradited to the United States and found guilty, Love could have sentenced to up to 99 years in prison and a potential fine of up to $9 million (£6.3 million).

Speaking outside the Royal Courts of Justice, Love expressed his thanks to the judges and said: "I'm thankful for all the support we've had, without which I'm not sure I would have made it this far."

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is also fighting US extradition, congratulate Love in a Tweet, saying: "VICTORY: @LauriLove wins UK appeal against US extradition. Congratulations to Lauri, his lawyers & family, @CourageFound and many supporters on an excellent campaign."

Right now, it is not clear if Love, who denies all wrongdoings, would face a prison sentence in the UK following his five years of legal battle.

British citizen and alleged hacker Lauri Love will be extradited to the United States to face allegations of hacking into United States government computer systems, a UK judge ruled on Friday.

Love, 31, is currently facing up to 99 years in prison for allegedly hacking into the FBI, the US Army, the US Missile Defence Agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and New York's Federal Reserve Bank during 2012 and 2013.

US Prosecutors claim that Love was allegedly involved in #OpLastResort, an online protest linked with the Anonymous collective following the persecution and untimely death of activist Aaron Swartz, who committed suicide in 2013 while under federal charges for data theft.

Speaking at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London, District Judge Nina Tempia said: "I'll be extraditing Mr. Love, by which I mean I'll be passing the case to the Secretary of State."

Tempia said Love could appeal against the court decision. The case will be referred to the home secretary Amber Rudd while Love remains on bail.

Love, his lawyer, and his family members have expressed concern about Love's well-being in the US, saying they fear for his life due to his mental health issues. Love is suffering from Asperger's syndrome.

"I accept Mr. Love suffers from both physical and mental health issues, but I have found the medical facilities in the United States prison estate … are such that I can be satisfied his needs will be comprehensively met by the U.S. authorities," Tempia said in her decision.

Friday's ruling came a few months after Love won a case against Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA), which was demanding him disclose passwords to his encrypted computers.

The mother of another British hacker Gary McKinnon, who was accused in 2002 of breaking into NASA and Pentagon computer systems and also avoided extradition to the US on mental health issues, warned Love wouldn't survive life in the US prison.

If his appeal to the home secretary against Friday's ruling proves unsuccessful, Love would have 14 days to file an appeal in the High Court for permission to challenge both the judge as well as the home secretary's decision.

In Brief

Britain's top crime fighting force has failed in a legal attempt to force alleged hacker Lauri Love to hand over his hard disk's encryption keys. In a landmark case, District Judge Nina Tempia said the investigative agency should have used the normal police powers rather than a civil action to obtain the evidence. Lauri Love, a 31-year-old hacker, has been accused of aiding cyber-attacks against U.S. targets, including NASA, FBI, US Army and US Federal Reserve networks.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) has failed in a legal attempt to force the British citizen and political hacktivist Lauri Love to hand over the keys to encrypted data that has been seized from his home two years ago.

At a Tuesday hearing in Court Seven at Westminster Magistrates' Court, the NCA's application to make Love disclose his encrypted computer passwords was refused by the judge.

Hacker Fighting Extradition to U.S.

Love, 31, is currently fighting extradition to the United States where he faces up to 100 years in prison for allegedly hacking into the Federal Bureau Investigation (FBI), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the US Missile Defence Agency, and Federal Reserve Bank of New York during 2012 and 2013.

United States Prosecutors claim that Love was allegedly involved in the online protest #OpLastResort linked with the Anonymous group, following the untimely death of online activist Aaron Swartz, who committed suicide in 2013 while under federal charges of data theft.

Love was initially arrested from his home in Stradishall, England back in October 2013, when the British police seized his encrypted computers and hard drives. The NCA later asked the courts to force Love to turn over keys to decrypt his computer's hard drives.

The files that authorities say could contain data from the US Senate and the Department of Energy on Love's computer has been encrypted with Truecrypt, a popular software for encrypting data.

Initially, the British agency attempted to compel Love to hand over his encryption keys and passwords under Section 49 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) 2000, but was failed after his refusal.

British Govt vs. Lauri Love

Love, who is currently on bail, launched a legal action against the NCA to return his computer equipment. However, the agency refused, claiming the devices could contain data that he did not legally belongs to him – for example, hacked files.

So, as part of those civil proceedings, the agency made an application to force Love to hand over his "encryption key or password" for the encrypted data found on his computer and hard drives.

However, Judge Nina Tempia of Westminster Magistrates' Court in London ruled in favor of Love, saying the NCA can not force Love to disclose his passwords and encryption keys to prove his ownership of the data.

Tempia also said the NCA has attempted to "circumvent" the RIPA act, which she described as the "specific legislation that has been passed to deal with the disclosure sought."

"I am not granting the application because to obtain the information sought the correct procedure to be used, as the NCA did two-and-a-half years ago, is under section 49 RIPA, with the inherent HRA safeguards incorporated therein," Tempia wrote in her ruling on Tuesday.

The NCA has yet to comment on the court proceedings. However, Love was "happy" with the result. Speaking outside court, he said: "It is a victory, although it is a more an avoidance of disaster."

The court hearing revolving around the return of Love's computer equipment is scheduled for July 28.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) of United Kingdom is forcing the British citizen, and political hacktivist Lauri Love accused of hacking to hand over encryption keys to equipment seized from his home.

Love, 31, is currently fighting extradition to the United States where he faces up to 99 years in prison for allegedly hacking into the Federal Bureau Investigation (FBI), the US Missile Defence Agency, NASA and Federal Reserve Bank of New York during 2012 and 2013.

US Prosecutors claim that Love was allegedly involved in #OpLastResort, an online protest linked with the Anonymous group, following the persecution and untimely death of activist Aaron Swartz, who committed suicide in 2013 while under federal charges for data theft.

Love was initially arrested from his home in Stradishall, England in October 2013 by the NCA and had criminal charges filed against him in New York, East Virginia, and New Jersey.

During a court hearing at Westminster Magistrates on Tuesday, the NCA representatives asked the District Judge to order Love to disclose the passwords to his encrypted computer files.

In an effort to obtain data from the seized computers, the agency previously attempted to compel Love to hand over his encryption keys and passwords under Section 49 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (Ripa) 2000, but was failed after his refusal.

The Ripa order expired with no further consequences to Love.

The latest attempt to force Love to hand over his encryption keys and passwords came after Love, who is on bail, launched a legal action against the agency to force it to return his computer equipment.

After hearing, Love said NCA was holding his "property to ransom," adding "It is not just the devices that cost money, and I do not have a lot of money, but it is everything I have ever made – writings, photos, correspondence, software, memories of an inestimable personal sentimental value."

Now, instead of using powers introduced with the Ripa, the NCA is seeking a court order in the form of a 'direction' in the civil proceeding brought by Love. If the direction is granted and Love refuses to comply, he will be charged with contempt of court.

The NCA has also asked the court to order Love to provide witness statements informing the court whether 2 TrueCrypt encrypted files on his computer contain data from the US Senate and the Department of Energy.

The court hearing for Love's extradition to the US is due to be held on 28 and 29 June.

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The FBI is warning that members of the hacktivist group Anonymous hacking collective have secretly accessed US Government computers and stolen sensitive information in a campaign that began almost a year ago.

The Hacktivists have exploited a flaw in Adobe applications to compromise the target systems and install software backdoors to maintain the control of the victims computers over the time, the facts dated back to last December, according to a Reuters report.

The hacking campaign affected the U.S. Army, Department of Energy, Department of Health and Human Services, and other government agencies, FBI reveals.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation memo called the hacking campaign "a widespread problem that should be addressed." and provided useful information for system administrators that how to determine if their networks were compromised.

Government investigators are investigating the scope of the hacking, believed that hackers are still operating under coverage.

"According to an internal email from Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz' chief of staff, Kevin Knobloch, the stolen data included personal information on at least 104,000 employees, contractors, family members and others associated with the Department of Energy, along with information on almost 2,0000 bank accounts. The email, dated October 11, said officials were "very concerned" that loss of the banking information could lead to thieving attempts." states Reuters post.

It seems that the hacking campaign was linked to the case of Lauri Love, a British resident indicted on October 28 for allegedly breaking into computers at the Department of Energy, Army, Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Sentencing Commission and elsewhere.

Law enforcement sustains that attacks began when Love and other members of the group of hacktivists exploited a security flaw in Adobe's ColdFusion application, of course Adobe spokeswoman declined any responsibility and declared that similar attacks are possible only if targeted systems are not updated with the latest security patches.

Law enforcement confirmed that some of the stolen information on the latest campaign had previously been disclosed by Anonymous members during the "Operation Last Resort."

Despite the earlier disclosures, "the majority of the intrusions have not yet been made publicly known," "It is unknown exactly how many systems have been compromised, but it is a widespread problem that should be addressed." the FBI wrote.

The cyber espionage campaigns conducted by Anonymous are the reply to the arrests of popular hackers linked to the collective linked to US retaliation strategy against hackers.

Consider hacktivism a transitory phenomena are dangerous, underestimate the capabilities of groups like Anonymous is a serious error and the FBI memo is an important warning for Governments and IT community ... Anonymous is alive and could hit every target in every moment!